17 bodies found in UP’s Gandak; search for Nepal flood victims continues

Seventeen bodies, believed to be victims of the Nepal flash floods, have been recovered from the Gandak river in Uttar Pradesh, even as more than 2,500 people remain missing in the tragedy that has claimed over 700 lives.

Thirteen of the bodies were found in Kushinagar’s Khadda and Tamkuhi Raj tehsils, including four recovered on Monday. Four others were recovered from Maharajganj’s Nichlaul tehsil on August 27. On Sunday, families crowded hospitals in Nepal searching for missing relatives as rescuers continued digging through mud and debris.

The four unidentified bodies recovered from Maharajganj were handed over to Nepal authorities on Monday, officials said. District Magistrate Gaurav Singh Sogarwal said that the bodies, including those of three women, had been kept in the mortuary for a mandatory 72-hour period.

DNA samples were collected from during the post-mortem examination to facilitate their identification, officials said. Nichlaul Tehsildar Amit Singh, who led the operation, said, “The bodies were transported in two ambulances and handed over to the Nawalparasi administration at the Maheshpur border near Thuthibari late Sunday night.” Additional District Magistrate Prashant Kumar said, “All necessary legal and administrative formalities were completed before the bodies were handed over to Nepal Police.” The DNA data will also be shared with the Nepal administration according to procedure to help match the samples with those of families searching for missing persons, officials said.

In Kushinagar, Additional District Magistrate Vaibhav Mishra said six of the bodies would be handed over to Nepalese authorities on Tuesday after completion of the mandatory 72-hour period for unidentified bodies. The flash floods that hit the northeastern district of Rasuwa in Nepal on August 26 are understood to have been triggered by a rock and ice avalanche, caused by a large block of glacier in the upper reaches of the Bhotekashi river (the lower side is also called the Trishuli) falling off.

The Gandak forms part of the border region between Nepal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. A disaster management expert said the river first enters Maharajganj district, then flows through Kushinagar and Deoria before entering Bihar.

Rescue and search operations continued in the affected areas. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the flood battalion of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) are working alongside the district administration and police to search the river and its surrounding areas.

Authorities are also coordinating with their counterparts in Nepal as efforts continue to identify the deceased.